Miami-Dade, Broward Public Schools Get Mid-August Start Date

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Miami-Dade and Broward public school students will get a late start on the new school year compared to the rest of the state.

Continuing a trend for students to return to their classrooms well before Labor Day, school doors will be open in 41 public-school districts as of August 10th.

Classes start August 7th in Franklin County, the earliest starting date, followed by 40 of the 67 school districts starting August 10th, according to the 2017-18 academic calendar compiled by the state Department of Education.

Miami-Dade and Broward, the two largest districts, start on August 21st.

Hamilton County has the latest start date on August 28th.

With the early start for the majority of districts, 52 school systems will end classes before the end of next May, while 15 districts will end the academic year in early June.

Miami-Dade and Hamilton have the latest closing date on June 7th.

School districts set the opening and closing dates based on a 2015 law that gives them the discretion to create their own calendars, which must include 180 school days.

Most districts opt for an early August start to allow students to take semester exams before the holiday break in December. Another reason for the early start is that it gives students more time to prepare for annual state assessments in the spring, which are linked to student progress and school grades.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.